A quote from the Reprisal Order issued by Field Marshal Keitel instructing
that fifty Soviet citizens would be shot for every German soldier killed
by Soviet partisans: "One must bear in mind that in the countries
affected, human life has absolutely no value...[t]he troops are, therefore,
authorized and ordered to take any measures without restriction, even against
women and children."

Wilhelm Keitel in the Nuremberg courtroom.

Keitel's defense can be best summed up in his own words:

"I have stated here that I was a loyal and obedient soldier
of my Fuehrer. And I do not think that there are generals in Russia
who do not give Marshal Stalin implicit obedience."